A New Appreciation For Ironic T-Shirts

Puns are a big part of my life. Each headline and photo caption I write as A&E editor—roughly 15 a week—needs to be catchy. Something I never knew about myself until I began this job: I am really, really bad at puns. Thankfully my co-workers are much more clever than I am and often save my ass when I’m really stuck—roughly 14 times a week.

Since I’ve developed this love-hate relationship with wordplay, I’ve noticed that I’ve also developed a much higher tolerance for ironic T-shirts. Previously cordoned off in the “only for bros” section of my brain (along with khaki shorts, puka bead necklaces and Halo), I now appreciate—and it almost pains me to say, respect—=the thought and effort required to design a T-shirt with a funny saying.

So, bros and non-bros, you have my approval to wear all the ironic Ts you want. But just to be clear, I’m still way too proud to direct you to Busted Tees, originator of the wretched “Your Retarded” T-shirt.  Instead I suggest checking out the apparel in the Mental_floss store for a much brainier selection. (Full disclosure: I’m a big fan of the _floss and have been fortunate enough to contribute an occasional article to their superb blog which has more trivia and fun facts than any other site on the Web.)

Here’s some of my faves. And bonus: Use the order code “holidayteeparty” to buy shirts for  just $14.90 each.